THE brother of a millionaire call centre boss who made repeated threats to kill her was yesterday jailed indefinitely for the public’s protection.
Former Businesswoman of the Year Chey Garland, her sister, mother and step-father received death threats from her brother, Kirk.
The 46-year-old claimed he had a gun and had hired two London hitmen to kill her and her stepfather, Hylton Bell, the day after he was freed from five months on remand for similar phone threats.
He told another sister in a chilling phone call: “Murder will be committed, but I will not be there.
I will be in the background laughing.”
His family were absolutely petrified of him but wanted him to receive help, said Yvonne Taylor, prosecuting.
His mother, Georgina Bell, and her husband were so scared they moved into daughter Chey Garland’s country mansion in Kirbyin- Cleveland, North Yorkshire.
Mrs Bell locked herself in a bedroom when Garland pulled up in the drive demanding to see her, smashing a window before police arrested him, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Garland told Mrs Bell in a 2.15am call: “You or my sisters aren’t safe, I’ll kill the lot of you.”
Middlesbrough-born Ms Garland, who received a CBE in the 2007 Queen’s Birthday Honours, founded Garlands call centres, which employ 2,000 people in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and South Shields.
Miss Taylor said: “They know that he needs help, but at the same time the family members fear for their peace of mind.”
Psychiatrists said Garland did not have a treatable mental illness, but he had a drink problem which left him with sclerosis of the liver, said Dan Cordey, in mitigation.
Garland, of Thornton Street, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to making a threat to stepsister Julie Dixon on February 23 last year to kill Cheyenne Jo-Ann Garland and Hylton Bell, and on the same date breaching a non-molestation order by making the threats to kill.
Garland was previously jailed for attempted rape, assaults and possession of a knife in public.
He was jailed for the public protection and must serve two years before he can apply for parole.
He was also given an indefinite restriction order banning him from approaching or contacting his family.
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